Slideshow
STRANGER THAN PARADISE
U.S., West Germany, 1984
Directed by Jim Jarmusch
With John Lurie, Eszter Balint, Richard Edson
Approx. 89 mins. 35mm.
“A whimsically dour tale of a young Hungarian woman named Eva (Eszter Balint) who comes to New York and connects with a pair of grubby gamblers — her cousin Willie (John Lurie) and his pal Eddie (Richard Edson) — en route to visit her elderly aunt (Cecillia Stark) in Cleveland. The comedic chaos of their lives gives rise to a threadbare road movie; their workaday worries mesh with innocent, angelic fantasy.” – Richard Brody, The New Yorker
Reviews
“Daring in its conception but made with a watchmaker's care, STRANGER THAN PARADISE is a playfully eclectic, formally perfect gem. It is also a persistently funny film that owes as much to THE HONEYMOONERS as it does to the avant-garde.”
– The Washington Post
“...a treasure from one end to the other.”
– Roger Ebert
“The acting and performances combine to produce an obliquely effective study of the effect of landscape upon emotion, and the wry, dry humour is often quite delicious.”
– Geoff Andrew, Time Out